Dispenser for rolled sheet material



Oct. 1, 1963 E. WALTZ 3,

DISPENSER FOR ROLLED SHEET MATERIAL Filed Nov. 14. 1960 IN V EN TOR.

EDWARD WALTZ BY m awksgw ATTQRNEYS,

United States ,This invention relates in general to a device for dispensing sheet material from a roll thereof and, more particularly, to a small dispenser which can be shipped in the knocked down condition, which can be quickly and easily assembled at the point of'use and which is adequately sturdy when assembled for supporting a generous supply of sheet material in a roll and properly dispensing said sheet material from the roll.

Numerous dispensers have been developed for the purpose of dispensing sheet materials from a roll thereof, and particular emphasis has been placed upon dispensers of this type which are adapted, for example, for use in the kitchen of the average home. A large proportion of these dispensers is particularly designed so that a selected portion of the sheet material supported thereon can be severed from the remainder by using a cutting edge mounted on the dispenser. However, insofar as I am aware, those existing dispensers which are capable of severing selected portions of sheet material from a roll thereof (sheet material having preselected, perforated severance lines being excluded), have not been entirely satisfactory for one or more of the following reasons:

Many of the existing dispensers, which have cutting bars or edges capable of serving applicants purposes, are too expensive for the average purchaser. Some of the existing dispensers are too large for use in the average household. Most of the sturdy dispensers are incapable of being shipped to the user in an unassembled or knocked down condition either because of inherent limitations in their structures, or because they cannot be assembled and/ or installed by the user.

Other existing dispensers are fabricated from flimsy material, such as carboard, which limits their useful life. Moreover, even if said cardboard dispensers could be reused, as by placing a new roll of sheet material therein, such refill rolls are often unavailable. That is, the cardboard box-type dispenser is usually constructed so that, with normal use, it will operate acceptably until its original contents have been completely dispensed, after which the dispenser becomes expendable.

The use of certain types of sheet materials, such as films and heavy foils, has increased steadily and substantially during the last fifteen or twenty years. Many of the films, such as Saran, which is manufactured by Dow Chemical Company, or Pliofilm made by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, have sufficient tensile strength but they cannot be easily cut by the structure provided for this purpose on existing, box-type dispensers. Moreover, these materials are not supplied with partially cut severance lines. However, most of these films are still packaged and sold for household use in a self-contained, flimsy dispenser, which diflers very little from the original type of packaging. The applicant believes that this procedure is not only outmoded but is ineffective and wasteful.

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention has been the provision of an inexpensive, small and portable device for supporting a roll of sheet material therein and for dispensing such sheet material from the roll in desired amounts.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a dispensing device, as aforesaid, which is simple in construction, easy to fabricate, adequately sturdy to be atent ice capable of a long useful life without repair, and which is not only small enough to be inconspicuous, but, to the extent that it can be seen, is pleasing in appearance.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a dispensing device, as aforesaid, which can be packaged and shipped in an unassembledcondition with a roll of sheet material so that the dispenser and roll occupy little, if any, more room than a similar roll of material in an existing, box-type package of a conventional type, and which can be easily and quickly assembled by any person capable of following the simplest instructions and without the use of tools.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of structure upon reading the following descriptive material and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing device embodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of said dispensing device with a fragment of a roll of sheet material supported therein.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded and broken, top plan view of the structure appearing in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is an exploded sectional view the line VIVI in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view baken along the line VII-VII in FIGURE 2.

For convenience in description, the terms upper, lower, left, right, front, rear and words of similar import shall have referenm to the dispensing device of the invention as appearing in FIGURE 2, which is a fragmentary, front elevational view. The terrns inner, outer and derivatives thereof shall have reference to the geometric center of said dispensing device and parts associated therewith.

taken along General Description The objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, have been met by providing a small, light weight and portable device for dispensing sheet material from a roll thereof mounted upon said device, which has two end members and a pair of spaced parallel rods extending between and removably secured to said end members. A cutting bar is disconnectibly mounted upon the ends of a pair of resiliently flexible elements which are secured to the two end members so that said cutting bar extends lengthwise of and engages the periphery of a roll of said sheet material supported upon and between the end members. The two end members, the cutting bar and the two connecting rods can be quickly and easily placed in a substantially flat arrangement for packaging with a roll of sheet material and inexpensive shipment to the point of use where the dispenser parts can be easily and quickly assembled without using tools.

Detailed Construction The dispensing device 10 (FIGURE 1), which has been selected to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention is comprised of a pair of end members 11 and 12 which are preferably, but not necessarily, mirror images of each other. A pair of similar rods 13 and 14 are secured at their opposite ends to and extend between the end members 11 and 12. A cutting bar 17 is supported upon and between a pair of resiliently flexible elements 18 and 19 which are secured, respectively, to the end members 11 and 12.

The end member 11 (FIGURES 1, 2 and 5) is comprised of a substantially flat end plate 22 having a lower edge 23 from which a flat, preferably integral, bottom flange 24 extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to said plate 22. Said end member ill also has a pair of integral flanges 26 and 27 which extend along the upwardly and inwardly curving front and rear edges of the end plate 22 from points adjacent the bottom flange 24 to closely spaced points near the upper end of the end plate 22. The flanges 24, 26 and 27, which materially increase the rigidity of the end plate 22, preferably extend inwardly and in the same direction therefrom.

Said end plate 22 (FIGURE has a shaft opening 28 near its upper end and two rod openings 36 and 31 adjacent the opposite ends of the bottom flange 24. Said end plate 22 has an outwardly offset and inwardly facing groove 33 which extends from the opening 28 through the space 32 between the adjacent upper ends of the flanges 26 and 27. The depth of the groove 33 gradually decreases from the upper edge of the end plate 22 to the upper edge of the shaft opening 28.

The end member 12 (FIGURE 1) which may be a mirror image of the end member 11, as stated above, has a bottom flange 24a, a pair of front and rear flanges a and 27a, respectively, and a shaft opening 28:: which communicates with the lower end of an upwardly extending groove 33a in the end plate 22a thereof.

The rods 13 and 14- (FIGURE 3) preferably have threaded portions 36 and 37 of reduced diameter at the leftward ends thereof, which reduced portions provide the adjacent shoulders 38 and 39 thereon. The threaded portions 36 and 57 of said rods are inserted through the rod openings 3%) and 31, respectively, until the shoulders 38 and 39 bear against the end plate 22 after which the nuts 42 and 43 are threadedly mounted upon the threaded portions 36 and 37 so that the adjacent portions of the end plate 22 are tightly held between said shoulders and said nuts. The nuts 45 and 46 (FIGURE 1) are threadedly mounted upon the rightward ends of the rods 13 and 14 for the purpose of holding the end member 12 securely with respect to said rods in the same manner discussed above with respect to the end member 11.

The roll 47 of sheet material is rotatably and loosely supported upon an elongated shaft 48 having end portions one of which is shown at 49 in FIGURE 3, of reduced diameter. Said end portions 49 are snugly and slidably insertable into the shaft openings 28 and 28a (FIGURE 1) for supporting said shaft 4%, hence a roll of sheet material 47, upon and between the end members 11 and 12.

The resiliently flexible element 18 (FIGURES 1 and 5 which can be fabricated from a flat strip of resiliently flexible metal, is shaped roughly in the form of an S with the lower end portion 52 thereof being substantially flat (FIGURE 7) and having a pair of spaced openings 53 and 54 therethrough. The bottom flange 24 has a pair of upwardly projecting, spaced ears 56 and 57 which extend through the openings 53 and 54, respectively, and are then bent in opposite directions against the lower end portion 52 of the element 18 to hold said lower end of said element rigidly against the flange 24. The upper end 58 (FIGURES 2 and 6) of said element 18 has a rightwardly opening notch 59.

The flexible element 19 (FIGURE 1) also has a lower end portion (not shown) which may be secured to the bottom flange 24a of the end member 12 in substantially the same manner as set forth above with respect to the flexible element 18. The upper end of the flexible element 19 has a leftwardly opening notch 59a.

The cutting bar 17 has central oifset portion 62 extending lengthwise thereof to reduce the flexibility of said cutting bar. Said cutting bar 17 has integral, L- shaped end portions 63 and 64 which protect first rearwardly or sidewardly from the cutting bar and then endwise of the bar 17 for engagement, respectively, with the upper ends of the flexible elements 18 and 1?. The endwise flange 66 of the L-shaped portion 63 (FEGURES 3, 5 and 6) has an offset finger 67 spaced from the upper d1 and lower edges thereof, which is receivable into the notch 59 at the upper end of the element 18 for the purpose of supporting the adjacent end of the cutting bar 17 upon said flexible element 1%. Engagement between said flange 66 and said flexible element 18 is effected by holding the bar 17 substantially parallel with the rods 13 and i4, and then moving said flange 66 toward the flexible element 18 until the finger 67 is snugly disposed within the notch 5?. r

The end portion 640i the cutting bar 17 is mounted upon the upper end of the flexible element 19 in substantially the same manner as the end portion 63 is mounted upon the element 18.

The upper and lower edges 6% and 69 of the cutting bar 1'7 may be sharpened or serrated to facilitate their 7 cutting ability when said edges are used to sever a piece of said sheet material from a roll thereof mounted upon the be turned end-for-end so that the end portions 63 and 6d are mounted upon the elements it? and 18, respectively. Thus, the cutting bar 17 can be mounted upon and between the flexible elements i=8 and 19 with either of the cutting edges 63 and 69 facing upwardly which may be advantageous under circumstances where the cutting characteristics of the edges 68 and 69 are different.

Operation The dispenser iii is assembled by inserting the threaded end portions or" the rods :13 and 14 (FIGURE 1) through the appropriate openings in the end plates 22 and 22a, after which the nuts 45 and 46 and the nuts 42 and 4 3 (FIGURE 4) are loosely mounted upon the threaded ends of said rods 13 and 14. The end portions 63 and 64 (FIGURE 1) of the cutting bar 17 are then caused to engage the upper ends of theflexible elements 18 and 19, one at a time, while the end members 11 and 12 are still loosely mounted with respect to the rods 13 and 1-4. Thereafter, the nuts 42, 43, 45 and 46 are tightened upon the rods 33 and 14, and the dispenser is now ready for use. In some instances, the elements 18 and 19 may be capable of sufficient sideward deflection to permit the mounting of the cutting bar thereon, after the nuts 42, 43, 45 and 46 are firmly tightened.

A roll -47 (FIGURE 2) of sheet material is placed upon a shaft 48, one end 49 of which is inserted through the shaft opening 28, for example, of the end member i1,

after which the other end of the shaft 4% is inserted into the shaft opening 28a in the end member 12..

Although the overall length of the shaft 48 is preferably slightly greater than the distance between the opposing surfaces of the end plates 22 and 22a, the groove 33a is capable of leading the rightward end of the shaft 48 into a The groove 33 serves a similar the shaft opening 23a. purpose when the left end of the shaft 48 is positioned last. A slight flexing of the rods 13 and 1-4, and/or the end members 11 and 12 may occur during the final positioning of the shaft 48 into the openings 23 and 7 28a in the end members 11 and 12.

The outer end portion of the sheet material 47 can now be pulled away from the roll thereof and severed from said roll, preferably by that one of the cutting edges 68 and 69 of the cutting bar 17 which is facing upwardly. The engagement of the fingers -67 and 67a with the upper and lower side walls of the notches 59 and 559a, respectively, will prevent disengagement of the cutting bar 17 dispenser it Moreover, the cutting bar 17 can shaft into the operating position (FIGURES 2 and 5) between the end members 11 and 12.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed above in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which lie within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

l. A collapsible and light weight device for dispensing sheet materials from a roll thereof supported upon shaft means extending from the axial ends thereof, comprismg:

a pair or" similar, upright and relatively thin end plates, the height of each end plate being approximately equal to the Width thereof, and each end plate having a flange extending substantially completely around, and projecting inwardly from, the peripheral edge thereof;

a pair of elongated, spaced and parallel rods extending between said end plates, said rods having screw means at their ends removably secured tosaid end plates adjacent the opposite ends of the lower edges thereof, whereby said end plates are firmly held in said upright positions;

means defining a pair of shaft openings in said end plates near the upper edges thereof, said end plates having outwardly ofiset, inwardly facing grooves extending from said shaft openings to said upper edges, said flanges having openings therein communicating with the upper ends of said grooves, whereby said shaft means with a roll of sheet material thereon can be guided downwardly through said flange openings, along said grooves in said end members and into said shaft openings;

a pair of resiliently flexible, arcuate elements respectively secured near their lower ends upon said flanges adjacent the lower edges of said end plates, said arcuate elements curving away from said flanges toward the said upper edges of said end plates and being substantially parallel with and adjacent to said end plates;

an elongated, substantially rigid cutting bar;

and engaging means on the opposite ends of said cutting bar and on said flexible elements near their upper ends for efiecting slidable mounting of said cutting bar upon said flexible elements, whereby said cutting bar is resiliently urged against the peripheral surface of a roll of paper mounted by said shaft means upon said end plates.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said cutting bar has end portions ofiset uniformly therefrom in the same direction, said end portions being spaced from each other a distance greater than the axial length of the said roll, and each end portion having an offset finger; wherein said flexible elements are substantially S-shaped and have opposing notches near their upper ends for receiving said offset fingers, whereby the mounting of said cutting bar is slidably effected;

wherein each end plate has a pair of openings adjacent the opposite ends of said lower edge and said rods have threaded end portions of reduced diameter extending through said openings and engageable by nuts for releasably holding said end plates;

and wherein said grooves diverge upwardly from said shaft openings and the distance between the lower ends of said grooves is less than the overall length of the shaft means for supporting said roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 788,708 Cox May 2, 1905 906,853 Daly Dec. 8. 1908 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,009,459 France Mar. 12, 1952 

